


Uninvited

by SleepsWithCoyotes



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: First Lines Challenge, M/M, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-16 23:11:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8121286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepsWithCoyotes/pseuds/SleepsWithCoyotes
Summary: Call it a hunch, but Tony's pretty sure Barnes doesn't agree that things could be worse.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Doing a Bucky/Tony "first line" challenge on [tumblr](http://ciceqi.tumblr.com/). Wordmage asked for: "Okay, this looks worse than it is."

"Okay, this looks worse than it is."

Call it a hunch, but Tony's pretty sure Barnes doesn't agree with him on this. The man just stares, caught in the doorway of his borrowed room at T'Challa's palace, one hand still frozen on the doorknob. The metal creaks under his hand; it's the right hand, even. Supersoldiers for the win.

So. This is not the weirdest situation he's ever been in. If flying into Wakanda just to get the band back together _and_ make nice with a king who probably rocks both the leather and the furry scenes doesn't even make the top one hundred, then getting caught naked in Bucky Barnes' bed shouldn't even be a blip on his radar. All he has to do is toss off a few casual jokes, turn on the charm, maybe ask for _directions_ this time. Smooth. He can be smooth.

"I mean," his mouth runs on without any input from his brain, "so usually I wouldn't be naked in someone's bed without a clear invitation, because hey, consent? Dead sexy. Random naked people? Usually just creepy."

Oh, yeah. Real smooth.

Barnes finishes taking that step inside and closes the door. He doesn't stop staring. Tony's not sure he's even blinked yet, but Barnes' face is doing the scary dead robot thing, so it's probably not out of appreciation for the view.

"Okay. Fine. I panicked. I was going to just steal your clothes--which, I get it, also creepy--but then I heard the door and I just, uh, jumped in. Your bed. Which I didn't realize was yours until I got out of the shower and couldn't find my goddamn clothes, and the spare arm in the dresser there was kind of a big clue--but in the sock drawer, Barnes? Really? And all these guest rooms look the same, okay, so this is really not my fault. Blame the tour guide instead."

He feels a bit like he's just run a marathon, not delivered a shamefully disjointed explanation to a man he's admired, then hated, only to reconcile with him after a murder attempt he mostly regrets. _Entirely_ regrets when he thinks too hard about the files he read and the footage he saw only after the fact.

Barnes blinks at last, and then--wonder of wonders--a tiny smile tugs at one corner of his mouth.

"Who exactly did you piss off?" Barnes asks in a soft, rusty voice. It's so unlike the brash drawl Tony built up in his head as a kid from watching old newsreels, it hits him every time.

"I never caught her name," Tony says in a rush, shoulders slumping in relief, "but she's very tall, very ripped, and looks like she could break everybody here in half with her pinky or something."

"She _can_ ," Barnes agrees, eyes lighting up in admiration. Figures. "And you were yanking her chain?"

"I didn't mean to!" Tony protests, throwing up his hands. He loses the grip he had on the sheet he was holding to his chest, but when it pools in his lap, Barnes doesn't glance down to get an eyeful of Tony's scars. He's not sure why he even thought Barnes would; Barnes has plenty of his own. "I mean, okay, I may have made a cat joke at dinner. Or three."

"I heard," Bucky says solemnly.

"Just--she said she'd take me to my place for the night, and wow, is that sounding all kinds of wrong now, because when I got out of the shower--a shower I took on her recommendation, mind you--I found out she'd stolen my clothes."

Barnes looks like it's killing him not to laugh, but that's miles better than the awful blankness of before. "So let me get this straight," he says with only a slight quiver to his voice. "Someone brought you here, told you to clean up, and stole your clothes."

"Great, we're all caught up," Tony grumbles.

"Uh-huh. So, uh...she didn't happen to leave you with seven veils, did she?" Barnes asks, eyes wide and guileless. "Maybe one of those ankle bracelets with the little bells?"

"I'm sure it was an oversight on her part," Tony says through gritted teeth. "Look, I'm glad you think it's funny--"

"It _really_ is," Barnes agrees, face transformed by a startling grin he's no longer trying to hide. It wipes a good ten years from his careworn face, leaving him looking his age--the age he should have been, not whatever Hydra left him.

"--but could I please just get some clothes?" Tony finishes, more plaintively than he'd meant.

The grin softens all at once. "Sure," Barnes says, surprising him by turning instantly to his dresser. He doesn't dither or try to make another joke of it, pulling out a plain white tee and a pair of grey cotton shorts with a drawstring waist. "Want me to step outside?"

"Pretty sure it's nothing you haven't seen before," Tony says, feeling more confident now that he's got options. Pepper used to say that he could walk naked through Times Square with a smile, but that's New York. The royal palace of Wakanda is someone else's stomping grounds, and he's felt just a little bit wrong-footed ever since he landed. 

Barnes glances casually away when Tony swings his legs over the side of the mattress and doesn't look back until after Tony tugs the shorts on and the shirt down over his head.

That's...interesting. Tony's been with a lot of people, from models to colleagues, star-hunters to rivals, and a few painfully genuine types he'd barely known what to do with after, much less at the time. He's never been with a gentleman before, but the idea once it takes root refuses to leave.

"So, you want me to walk you to your door?" Barnes offers, hunching a shoulder.

"You know where that is?"

"Not a clue," Barnes admits, "but they'll probably tell me if I ask. You're more likely to end up chained to someone's bed."

"Many have tried," Tony replies sagely. "Few have succeeded."

Barnes laughs, shaking his head. "I'm going to find you right back here again tomorrow night, aren't I?"

It's...a bad idea. There's too much baggage on either side, leaving aside the fact that Cap will kill him, for real this time. And yet.

Tony shrugs with a lopsided grin and lets himself enjoy the surprised tilt of Bucky's arched brows.

"Okay," he says. "It's a date."


End file.
